IndyCar drivers need to have at least some bit of arm strength to wrangle around their race cars, which don’t have the benefit of power steering.
But when it comes to them throwing out ceremonial first pitches at a Major League Baseball game, perhaps it’s not so much their arm strength that’s the problem – more so, their location.
Before heading down to Barber Motorsports Park for this weekend’s Verizon IndyCar Series event, driver/owner Ed Carpenter made a quick stop in Detroit to handle some promotion for the Detroit Grand Prix (May 31-June 1).
Part of his duties was to throw out the first pitch at yesterday’s Detroit Tigers game. We weren’t able to find a video of the pitch, and perhaps that is a good thing – Mike Brudenell of the Detroit Free Press reports that Carpenter’s throw hit the dirt and went past the glove of catcher Justin Miller into the backstop.
“If that was an attempt at Indy to qualify, I would definitely have withdrawn it,” Carpenter quipped according to Brudenell’s report.
But at least Carpenter got to swap jerseys (or his case, a T-shirt commemorating his 2013 Indianapolis 500 pole) with Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello.
Earlier this month, another IndyCar racer tried to deliver a good first pitch as Helio Castroneves stopped by a Los Angeles Dodgers game before the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend got started.
While Carpenter’s pitch was apparently too low, Castroneves’ pitch sailed on him and, as you’ll see in this Vine clip from the Dodgers, it forced their star outfielder, Andre Ethier, to use his hops in order to snag the wayward ball.
Of course, we’re just having a bit of fun with them. You can catch Castroneves and Carpenter (who will be on the pit box watching his road course driver, Mike Conway) this Sunday in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra.
Lawrence led all 16 laps of both races after taking the holeshot in the second moto and grabbing the lead from Dylan Ferrandis in Turn 2 of Moto 1. Lawrence claimed a four-second lead in Moto 1 and five seconds in Moto 2, but as dominant as it seems on paper, there were some exciting moments during the weekend. In the second race, Lawrence wanted to build an advantage that would allow him to maintain his pace and he nearly high-sided a couple of times in heavy ruts.
In his second race back from a concussion, Ferrandis finished in the runner-up spot with a second in Moto 1 and a third in Moto 2. While his finish of second overall goes into the record books, Pro Motocross points are rewarded for each individual race and that meant Ferrandis lost eight points in championship battle to Lawrence. With Sexton failing to mount up for the race, Ferrandis advanced to second in the standings with an 18-point gap to Lawrence. Equally important, Ferrandis gained ground in the SuperMotocross World Championship (WSX) points and now has a gap of 44 over 21st-place Justin Starling.
Cooper Webb is also in his second round since returning from a Supercross injury suffered in Nashville at the end of their season. Claiming results of fourth and second in the two races, Webb earned 40 SuperMotocross points at Hangtown and closed in on Sexton in the WSX battle. Sexton entered Hangtown with a large enough lead that he could not be overtaken, but he is now only 38 points up and could face a difficult decision next week at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado if he wants to hold onto his lead.
Aaron Plessinger had an adventurous weekend in which he seemed to close on Lawrence in his second race before crashing and dropping to fourth. Coupled with a fifth-place finish in Moto 1, he earned 35 points and was credited with fourth overall.
Cashing in on confidence he gained in the final rounds of the Supercross season, Adam Cianciarulo earned his first top-five of the Pro Motocross championship after narrowly missing out last week with a sixth. He earned the distinction with consistent results of fifth in Moto 1 and fourth in Moto 2.
Hunter Lawrence showed his back to the competition at Hangtown, just as he did the week prior at Fox Raceway. – Align Media
The Lawrence brothers made history last week as the first siblings to win in two Pro Motocross divisions on the same day. Fans should get accustomed to seeing this happen with some regularity as Hunter Lawrence posted identical results in Hangtown to those he had at Fox Raceway in the season opener.
In both races, Lawrence got off to a slow start in Moto 1 and had to claw his way back to the podium. He dominated Moto 2 in both rounds to earn the overall victories.
Justin Cooper did not allow Lawrence to gain much of an advantage in the Motocross points’ standings, however. Finishing second in both motos, the earned only one point less than Lawrence. His modest showing in Round 1 of the outdoor season has him 12 points out of first in the championship standings.
Haiden Deegan scored his first moto win in just his fourth start in the series. In the first race of the day, he had to withstand constant pressure from Cooper, but when his teammate closed in on him, Deegan reached down and found a little more speed. Now that he’s won one of these races, he has his sight set on challenging Lawrence for the title. Deegan is second in the Pro Motocross championship standings with a 10-point deficit to the leader.
Haiden Deegan scored podiums in both Motocross rounds of 2023. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire rounded out the top five with a pair of fifth-place results and 32 points for the round. Even though the deficit is a whopping 61 points, Hampshire climbed to second in the SuperMotocross championship standings now that Jett Lawrence has moved to the big bikes.
Jalek Swoll struggled last week and finished 21st overall at Fox Raceway. This week, he finished on the cusp of 10th in both races with a ninth in Moto 1 and 11th in Moto 2. In the SuperMotocross standings, he has a lot of ground to make up. He currently sits 49th on the chart with a 70-point gap to Chance Hymas, who is on the bubble to earn a guaranteed position in the SMX Mains for the three playoff races that will be held on September.
